NY Giants Justin Tuck talks about going on a run in these playoffsNY Giants Justin Tuck talks about going on a run in these playoffs and also about the catch that propelled them to the Super Bowl in 2007 with the catch by Corey Webster. Webster also talks about the catch. Tuck also talks about the 2 runningbacks in Bradshaw and Jacobs as the Giants prepare for the Packers this Sunday. (Video by Wiliiam Perlman/The Star-Ledger)

Osi Umenyiora was asked what’s the fastest he’s ever gotten to the quarterback. He took a breath, as if it would take him a while to recall. In 1.2 seconds, he provided the answer.

If only it were that easy for the Giants’ defensive linemen this Sunday in Green Bay against Aaron Rodgers. Maybe if they were all unblocked, they’d consider it to finally be a fair fight against one of the quickest releases in the NFL.

But that surely won’t be the case as the Packers try to neutralize the Giants’ best defensive weapon — their pass rush — by making sure Rodgers’ hand is empty by the time a blue helmet gets near him.

The Giants’ pass rushers like to say it’s a “race to the quarterback” to get there before one of their teammates. This weekend, they won’t care which of them gets there first, as long as they do it while Rodgers is still holding the ball.

“We have some things that we’re trying to do on the back end to kind of get him to hold the ball a little bit longer, but the pressure is on our D-line,” Justin Tuck said. “Even when you can’t get to him, just to let him feel you, make sure you’re around him, maybe some batted passes. Things like that.”

The last time the Giants faced the Packers, they did a decent job of forcing Rodgers to hold the ball at times. His average release from snap to delivery was 3.0 seconds.

But minus play-action passes, which take more time to develop, that number dips to 2.8. Eliminate a 5.6-second scramble on which Rodgers took his time because the Giants’ three-man rush didn’t hurry him at all — the end result was a 7-yard touchdown pass to Donald Driver in the right side of the end zone — and the average dips to 2.7 seconds.

Of the Giants’ 50 sacks in the regular season and playoffs, only 19 came in 2.7 seconds or less. So their internal clocks tell them they have to get to Rodgers very quickly.

Even if they try not to act like it.

“You can’t think like that because you try to execute your moves quicker and it doesn’t work,” Umenyiora said. “I mean, it’s frustrating to see how quickly he gets rid of the ball at times but we have to know he’s not going to do that every time. At times, he’s going to hold the ball. And when he does, we’re going to have to get there.”

The accepted time in which a defensive line is supposed to get to the quarterback is 3.0 seconds. Anything after that is a “coverage” sack. Tuck said the Giants’ defensive linemen have higher standards, but let’s use the more widely agreed upon timing of 3.0.

Of Rodgers’ 46 passes against the Giants in Week 13, only 18 were delivered at that mark or after. Seven of them were play-action passes.

The Giants’ two sacks of Rodgers that day — one by Tuck and one by Dave Tollefson — both came 2.9 seconds after the snap.

“If we don’t get there in 3 seconds, we failed?” an incredulous Tollefson said. “We’re talking about seconds here.”

“Right, that’s why I was a seventh-round pick,” Tollefson said. “Maybe if I was a little faster ...”

Three of Tollefson’s sacks this year were coverage sacks — 3.1, 3.6 and 4.9 seconds — while his sack of Rodgers and one of the Cardinals’ Kevin Kolb (2.7) were very good athletic plays for the, ahem, high-motor guy.

But the freakishly quick sacks are usually limited to Umenyiora and the guy listening over Tollefson’s shoulder during his interview Thursday.

“How fast did I get there?” Jason Pierre-Paul said, interrupting after Tollefson was asked about Pierre-Paul’s sack of the Seahawks’ Tarvaris Jackson in Week 5. “1.2?”

Actually, 2.0 on the nose — tied for the quickest Giants sack of the season with Pierre-Paul’s sack of Rex Grossman in Week 15.

“That’s what I said!” Pierre-Paul shot back. “That’s how fast I am on those things.”

And that’s how fast he forgets, apparently, because he didn’t even remember the play.

“Better off that way,” Tollefson said. “Just leave it as it is. Don’t remind him.”

Tuck, whose sacks usually take a bit longer because he relies upon strength and technique to get off a block, claimed Pierre-Paul was unblocked on that play. Well, yeah, after he gave tackle James Carpenter an outta-my-way slap while making a quick inside move on his way to Jackson.

“Normally, when they don’t block me, they’re looking right at me,” said Tuck, a left end who rushes into the quarterback’s face as opposed to his blind side, “so they get rid of the ball.”

Which only makes Pierre-Paul’s sack of Jackson, which came from the left end spot, that much more impressive.

“But that goes to show you have a lot of guys that can get after the quarterback,” Tuck said, “and that puts pressure on the O-line to be exact in what they do. Sometimes things can get misunderstood up there.”

In shadow of New York Giants' home, a tribute to Vince LombardiLedger Live for January 12, 2012 - Ledger Live with Brian Donohue. With the New York Giants' NFL playoff game against the Green Bay Packers days away, visitors to the New Jersey Turnpike's Vince Lombardi Service Area stop to appreciate the irony of a monument to a great Packer so close to the Giants' home stadium. Or not.